As From a Mother's Hand
by pandorabox82
Summary: When Penelope finds out she's pregnant, she delves into her family history and discovers things are not as she has believed all these years. How will the discovery of who her mother really is affect everyone at the BAU? A/U
1. Chapter 1

"I thought you loved Pad Thai, Plum Sauce." Penelope looked up from the toilet bowl and groaned softly.

"I do, Kev. I don't know what's wrong with me. Would you get me a glass of water?" She heard him move out of her bathroom and she bent back over the bowl, throwing up once more. "Oh god, what did I eat that caused this?" she muttered, breathing heavily.

"I poured you some ginger ale, Penny. That might settle your stomach faster than water." Penelope smiled gratefully as she flushed the toilet. Kevin helped her up, handing her a wet washcloth which she wiped her face with before sipping at the ginger ale.

"Thanks, Kev. Let's go cuddle." She held out her hand and he clasped it, leading her into the living room. "Have I told you lately how grateful I am that we're working on our relationship?"

"I wasn't about to throw away four years of happiness with you. So, we won't move in right away, or get married. I love you, Penny, and if these are my boundaries, I'll live with them." He kissed her temple as they sat down on the couch. "Now, I do have something to ask you. Do you want to watch _Galaxy Quest_ or _Lady and the Tramp_?"

"_Galaxy Quest_, please." She settled back in the couch while he put the disc in her DVD player. Once he'd gotten comfortable, she curled into him, relishing the feel of his arm around her shoulders. "I love this movie."

"I know you do, sweetie. Did you read recently where Sigourney Weaver said there's an R-rated version floating around out there?"

"No, I didn't. That would be so amazing to see, though." They watched for a few minutes and Penelope began to feel queasy again. "Excuse me," she murmured as she ran for the bathroom once more. As she threw up, her eyes focused on her box of tampons. It was the same box she had last used two months ago. "Shit."

"What is it?" She looked up at Kevin and smiled weakly. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Penny?"

"I think we need to run down to Wallgreens, Kevin."

"What do you need me to get? Tylenol, Midol, Nyquil?"

"Two different brands of pregnancy tests, actually. We didn't use protection during our reunion weekend because I wasn't thinking about that." She watched his smile grow and felt some of the panic fade from her body.

"You think you're pregnant?" He knelt by her side, gently spreading his hand across her stomach. "Oh my gosh, a little bit of you and me is growing in here. Do you want to call Morgan and let him know?"

"Not until we get everything confirmed. Are you really that happy about this?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" He reached up and smoothed her hair back gently. "Imagine a little girl who looks as perfect as you running around here. I can see if there's another condo available her, that way they don't have to go far to see one of us."

Penelope burst into tears and wrapped her arms around him. "What did I do to deserve you?" she whispered as he rocked her back and forth. "All right, let's find out if my hunch is right." They stood and she clung to him as they left the apartment. It was a short walk down to the store and she led him to the pharmacy section.

"Why are there so many options?" Kevin asked as they looked at the shelves in front of them.

"I have no idea. Just pick one and I'll pick another." Penelope closed her eyes and blindly reached out for a slim box. Kevin did the same moments later and they went up to pay.

The clerk smiled as she checked them out. "Will this be your first?" she asked kindly.

Penelope smiled. "Yes, it will be, hopefully. All depends on what these say." Kevin tightened his arm around her waist and she looked up into his face.

"Well, then, I hope you get happy results."

"Thank you," Kevin replied as he took the bag from the clerk's outstretched hand. They got home ten minutes later and Penelope took a deep breath.

"I can't pee."

"What?"

"I don't have to pee. How am I supposed to take these if I can't pee?"

"By drinking a bunch of water. We can watch the movie up until you feel like you have to go." He kissed her sweetly and she smiled as she nodded. "Go, start it up while I get you a glass."

She went over and sat down once more, pressing play. Penelope giggled a little when Kevin handed her the largest cup she owned, filled to the brim with water. "I don't think I'll need quite this much liquid, honey."

He just shrugged. "Better too much than not enough."

As soon as the climactic battle scene began, Penelope felt her bladder tell her it was time to pee. Getting up, she grabbed the boxes and took them into the bathroom. She opened the first box and read the instructions. While she took it, she read the second box and then took that one. With the task finished, she stood and washed her hands before returning to Kevin. "Now we wait. Let's finish the movie before we check, okay?" He nodded and pulled her close to his side.

Once the credits started rolling, they stood and she led him over to the bathroom. "I'll look at one and you look at the other?"

"Sure." She handed him one and picked up hers. Happy tears prickled her eyes as she read the positive results. "Mine says Daddy."

"And mine says Mommy. Oh, I'm so happy!" He leaned forward and kissed her passionately and she wrapped her arms around him. He brought her out to the bedroom and helped her out of her dress. Kneeling on the floor, he kissed her stomach tenderly. "Our future is growing in you, Penny. It hardly seems possible, does it? Are we going to name her Emily, if she's a girl?"

Penelope slid down his body to kneel in front of him, looking deep into his eyes. "I would love that, Kevin." It had been so difficult to let Emily go, but she knew her friend had to find peace in the end. "Thank you." She unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. "You're not nervous about this."

"How do you know?"

"You're not sweating. Take me to bed." He nodded and helped her to stand and they finished undressing. He tossed her a nightshirt and she pulled it on before climbing into bed. "I hope the baby has your hair, Kevin."

"And I hope the baby has your eyes and smile. And your heart." He kissed her softly as he pulled her flush against him. "Go to sleep, Penny." She nodded and felt her eyes close heavily.

When she woke up in the morning, she could smell breakfast cooking. "I don't know how much of that I can eat, Kevin. Food and I seem to be fighting at the moment," she said as she got out of bed.

"Just try to get something down. We have an appointment with your GP at 10:30." He smiled at her and she just shook her head. "I know, kind of fast, but I want to know what we're in for."

"I'll have to call Hotch. He needs to know why I'm not coming in."

"Already taken care of, my turtle dove. Though he doesn't know why you're taking a personal day. If you were thinking of grabbing a shower, I would do so right after you eat. We have to leave in about an hour."

She nodded and sat at the table, eating the eggs he'd prepared. With them gone, she got up and pulled out an outfit for the day and disappeared into the bathroom. Tucking her hair into a shower cap, she showered quickly and then dressed. Eschewing her normal makeup regimen, she applied just a light coat of lip gloss and a dusting of blush. "I'm ready, Kevin."

Picking up her purse and cell phone, she slipped on a light cardigan and waited for him by the door. They went out into the hall and Penelope locked the door. While they drove, Kevin formed a classical music station on Pandora. "That will be good for the baby, right?"

"JJ listened to it when she was pregnant with Henry." Sighing happily, she sank back in the seat, letting the music wash over her. By the time they got to the office, she was thoroughly relaxed. Handing Kevin her purse, she checked in and then joined him. Her stomach fluttered nervously and she took hold of his hand, squeezing lightly, trying to retain the calm of the car ride.

"Ms. Garcia?" the nurse called out moments later and she stood with Kevin, walking with him over to the door. "How are you this morning?"

"Wonderful. We think we're pregnant."

"That's what Mr. Lynch said when he called. Let me just take your vitals and then Dr. Kane will be in momentarily." The nurse took down her height and weight before showing them to an exam room where she recorded Penelope's blood pressure. "That's a little higher than I'd like, but given the circumstances, I think it'll go back down Just sit down wherever and she'll be here shortly."

After the nurse had left the room, Penelope hopped up on the exam table. "So, we're going to ask for the name of a good OB and what to expect at our first appointment with them. Here, take notes on Hera while we talk." She pulled out her iPad from her purse, thrusting it at him. He'd just called up the notepad app when her doctor bustled in.

"So, Penelope, I hear congratulations are in order. I'm sure you're going to have a lot of questions, most of which I can only answer half as well as an obstetrician. Here's a list of ones that I've worked with in the past. I would recommend Lisandra Moe. She generally works with later in life pregnancies. Now, she'll want to know as much about your family history as possible, so begin to gather that information. I'd expect to get in to see her in two weeks."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Kane." She nodded and left while Penelope and Kevin continued to sit there. "Well, I would have thought we'd get more time with her."

"She's busy, Kev. And we have our OB. Everything's fine. I guess."

They got up and he put his arm around her waist. "You guess?"

"Yeah. Now I have to get in touch with my brothers. This might actually be worse than morning sickness…"


	2. Chapter 2

Once they were back at the apartment, Penelope sat on her couch, pulling out her laptop as she rested her legs on the coffee table. "Thank you," she said as she took the mug from Kevin's hand.

"Just email them, Plum Sauce. The worst that can happen is you don't hear from them and we go in to the appointment blind. I have all the information I need right now, thanks to that stroke scare last year."

She nodded and called up Gmail. Starting a new message, she stared at the cursor, watching it blink. "It mocks me, Kevin."

"What does, Penny?" he asked as he sat next to her, pulling out his own laptop.

"The cursor. I don't have any idea what I want to say to them."

"Just ask for a copy of your mom's medical records. You'll probably have to look in public records for your father, though. I'm not sure if they would have kept something that didn't affect them."

She laughed nervously and leaned against him. "Why does this make me so upset and nervous? Fine, I'll just get it over with, like taking off a Band-Aid." Taking a deep breath, she placed her fingers on the keyboard and began to type. _Hi everyone, I know we haven't talked in a long time, and that's partly my fault. I've been in a relationship with someone for four years now, and we just found out we're going to be parents. Which is why I'm writing you. My OB wants to know as much about our medical history as possible. Do one of you have Mom's medical records? And on a long shot, my father's? I hope to hear from you soon. Penny_

Adding their names to the address line, she hovered over the send button. "Just click it, sweetie pie." Penelope nodded and clicked the button, releasing the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "Do you feel better now?"

"A little, yeah." Her phone rang and she picked it up, looking at the display. "It's Morgan." Kevin nodded as she answered. "Hey, boo. How's the case going?"

"All right, I suppose. I hate the other tech. He's so slow compared to you. But how are you feeling?"

"Better this morning. Did Kevin tell you our good news?"

"No, he didn't. What news do you have, Baby Girl?"

"We're going to have a baby! If I'm right, I'm about two months along."

"That's wonderful news, Penny!" In the background, she could hear Hotch calling everyone together. "Sorry, Baby Girl, but that's my cue to get back to work. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Sure. I'll be in the office tomorrow, too, so everything will be better for you guys, too." Penelope hung up and set her phone on the table. "What are you doing?"

"Looking up what we're going to have to look forward to. I'm going to have to give you a lot more backrubs."

"Why?"

"Your breasts already bother your back at times, and it says here that due to milk production, they can grow about two cup sizes or more."

"Great. What else is there?" she asked as she curled up into his side.

"The sickness will continue for about another two months, but if it gets too bad, we can ask for something to calm your gag reflex. You'll want to gain about twenty five pounds, but the doctor will tell us if we're putting on too much or too little." He turned a little green and she wondered what he was looking at. Turning the laptop so she could see it, she felt herself blanch.

"Wow, I am so glad I can't watch myself give birth."

"Yeah, but I can." He kissed her forehead lightly. "But if I can stay above the waist during labor, we should be fine."

Penelope shook her head as she giggled. "I can just have Jayje in the room if you think it's going to bother you that much. After all, she's been through this once before."

He nodded. "Maybe she could help us out during labor. It would be nice to have someone with experience coach us through."

"True, true." She got up and refilled her mug of tea and grabbed a banana off the counter before rejoining Kevin.

The hours passed and Penelope checked her email almost constantly. There was nothing from her brothers and she felt her heart sink a little more each time there was no word. "Honey, don't work yourself up so. I don't think that it's very good for the baby."

"I know, but I just want a reply."

"Not everyone is attached to the internet like we are. Come on, let's get you to bed."

"Aren't you staying tonight?"

"No, I have my League of Legends campaign tonight. I'll bring by lunch, though, tomorrow." He helped her up and led her over to the bed. "I love you, Penelope Garcia."

"I love you, too, Kevin Lynch." She kissed him gently and then got into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. "I hope you guys win tonight."

"I know we will, what with your well wishes." He bent and kissed her once more before leaving the apartment. She was asleep in moments, a smile on her face.

In the morning, she showered and then got dressed. Pinning up her hair, she quickly did her makeup before eating some toast and heading out for the day. Looking over the notes from the other tech, she quickly got herself caught up and continued to run the searches he had started.

On her personal laptop, she kept refreshing her mail, hoping for some news from just one of her brothers. At ten, Morgan called and she smiled widely. "Hey Sugar!"

"How're you feeling today, Baby Girl?"

"Wonderful, but a bit distracted."

"Why's that?"

"I'm waiting for my brothers to get back to me. I guess the OB wants a complete family health history when we go see her. And you know I have a bit of a blank slate there." She sighed. "I hope the baby smoothes things over with his family. They haven't talked to me since I rejected his proposal."

"I thought you were going to have dinner with them last week?"

"They bailed at the last minute. So, what did you need?"

"How are those searches coming?"

She looked them over and told him what the results were. "I hope this helps."

"I'm sure it will, Penelope. And don't worry about your brothers, okay? Everything will work out. Oh, and be sure to call Mama. She'll love to hear she's have a pseudo-grandbaby."

"Sure. Talk to you later." She disconnected the call and went back to her work. Shortly before lunch, she checked her email and saw a reply from her youngest older brother, Joey. Instantly, her palms began to sweat and her stomach roiled a little. Her door opened, revealing Kevin. "Hi, Kev."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, you noticed. I got an email from Joey."

"And have you opened it yet?" he asked as he sat down on her desk, handing her the bag of food.

"No. I don't want to see what he's written." She took out the container and spork and began to eat so that she wouldn't have to answer any more questions.

"You can't get out of this so easily, Plum Sauce. I'll open it and read it aloud while you eat." She nodded and he turned the screen so that he could see it. "Hi, Penny. It's so nice to hear from you. I know we didn't exactly part on good terms, and I'm sorry for that. Congratulations on the baby, by the way. Sarah and I had our first earlier this year, and he's a Joey, too. I was trying to get up the courage to contact you, and then your email came. Anyway, you wanted to know about Mom and Richard. I scanned in all the info I could find and attached it as a PDF. See, you're not the only one good with a computer! Oh, and if you want to call, and I hope you do, you can reach me at 616-555-8930. Love you, Sis! Joey."

Kevin looked up at her and she wiped away her tears quickly. "That went better than I expected it to. So, what does the PDF say?"

She watched Kevin click on the file and read through the contents. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Here, check them out." He handed the laptop to her and she scrolled through the documents.

As she looked over the information, she noticed something odd to her. "Honey, could you look something up for me?"

"What do you need me to find?" he asked, taking a seat in front of one of her babies.

"Can you see if A positive and O positive blood types can make a B negative baby?"

She listened to him tapping away at the keyboard, hoping that it could be true. What she remembered from high school biology told her otherwise, though, so she twisted her fingers in her skirt anxiously. "Are you sure your blood type is B negative, Plum Sauce? That's a really rare blood type."

"How rare?"

"Two percent of the population rare. And if your parents were both positive blood types, there's no possible way for you to have negative blood." He turned and looked at her. "Maybe your dad's not your dad?"

"Maybe," she replied softly, feeling close to tears. "But why wouldn't Mom have told me?" He shrugged and pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back gently as she cried.


	3. Chapter 3

By the end of her day, Penelope had worked herself into a tizzy. She'd spent all of her free time researching how blood types worked, hoping beyond hope that Kevin had read something wrong the other night. All her searching proved in vain, as each website she consulted agreed with his assertions.

Exhaling roughly with frustration, she pushed away from the computer bank, rubbing her stomach. "Oh god, here it comes." Standing, she made her way down the stairs, almost making it to the double doors before having to break into a jog. Barreling past another agent, she shut herself inside the handicap stall and quickly threw up. "I so hope this doesn't last long," she muttered before standing up and flushing away the evidence of her illness.

Washing her hands, she stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't notice any changes in her face yet, not even a glow, and she let her shoulders sag. Trudging back up to her office, she reclined on her sofa, staring up at the ceiling. Rossi came in moments later and stood next to her side. "Is everything okay, Kitten?"

"No, yes, I don't know. I'm kinda sick."

He knelt by her side, resting his hand atop hers. "Do you need to go home?"

"I don't think so. I just need to rest for a little bit. Sam thinks his team is really close to catching their unsub, so I have to be here in case they call. But you're leaving early. Hot date with Erin tonight?"

"Yeah. We're going to that little French bistro just outside DC. She's finally ready to admit we're going steady. It only took three months of more pleasant pursuits to convince her of that."

Penelope blushed, not wanting to think of their boss and Rossi entwined together. "Thank you so much for that mental picture. Oh, I got in contact with my brothers. So far, only Joey's responded, but it's a start, right?"

"Yes, it is a start." He kissed his fingers and then touched them to her forehead. "Feel better, Kitten." Standing, he looked over at the doorway and smiled. "And do not fall asleep here. When you're not feeling well, you need the comfort of your own bed."

"I'll try to follow orders, Sir. Now go and be with your lady love and quit worrying about me." He nodded and made his way to the door, closing it behind him. Penelope resumed her staring at the ceiling, letting the various possibilities run through her mind. _So, maybe Mom cheated. That would be awful. Oh god, what if she was raped? How could she stand looking at me every day, knowing where I came from?_

Her phone rang and she touched her Bluetooth. "Hey Pen, we need some info on the fly."

"No problem, Prophet. Just give me one second to get to my computer." She sat up and then stood, going over to her computer bank. "What do you need to know?"

As she looked up the information for Prophet, her mind wandered back to her situation. She yawned largely the moment she was off the phone and went back over to the couch. Stretching out, she pulled her blanket over her body and tried to calm down. Almost without meaning to, she fell asleep, her mind still focused on who she really was.

When she woke up, she was looking into Rossi and Strauss's bemused faces. "I thought I told you to go home, Kitten."

"Yeah, well, I figured sleeping here would be better than getting in an accident on the way home." She took hold of his hand, using it to pull herself up into a seated position. "It's also why I keep a go bag here." She checked her watch. "But why are you here already? It's not even seven."

"The rest of the team will be arriving shortly, Ms. Garcia. We've caught a particularly bad case here in DC. I'll start the briefing so you can get changed." Chief Strauss gave her a small smile and she nodded, picking up her bag and hurrying from the room.

It didn't take her long to change and she slunk into the war room, sliding into the seat next to JJ. The woman smiled at her kindly and she smiled back, taking her iPad from her hands, focusing on what Chief Strauss was saying. As she spoke, Penelope began to tap out notes of things to run searches on once her team was in the field.

"All right, we're heading out in ten minutes. Garcia, a moment, please?" She nodded, swallowing hard as the others filed out.

"Yes, Hotch?" she asked, rubbing her stomach absently.

"Kevin called me last night when you didn't call him. We had a long talk about your near future. Congratulations."

"Thank you." She smiled up at him and he held out his arm. Stepping forward, she accepted the quick hug he offered.

"You're not going to come with us out on the field, though. And I know JJ did, but she didn't inform me of the pregnancy until she was well into her second trimester. If everything goes well these next ten weeks, then we can reevaluate the situation."

Penelope nodded. "Have you told the others yet?"

"No, that's your news to tell. Now, we should probably get going. Have a good day, Garcia."

"I'll try." She followed him from the room and went over to her office. Since there was nothing to do for the next little bit, she set up the searches that would help the team out and then pulled out her personal cellphone. It was still a little early in the morning, but she hoped Joey would forgive her.

Dialing his number, she held her breath until he picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Joey. It's Penny. Thanks for all the information you sent earlier. I have a few questions, though."

"I'll try to answer as many as I can, Penny. I hope I can be of help to you."

"I take it you got all the records, since you were able to scan in the actual medical records of my parents. Do you know if you have my childhood medical records and birth certificate handy?"

"I'm sure I have them one of the boxes I inherited. But why do you need them?"

She sighed. "I don't think my dad was my dad."

"What?"

"My blood type doesn't make sense with who my parents are. I have a super rare blood type, Joey. Like, only two percent of the population in the world has B- blood. And both of my parents had positive blood. There's no way once or both of them had a part in creating me."

Penelope felt hot tears prickle her eyes as Joey sighed lightly. "Penny Lane, are you sure that you have your blood type right?"

"Yeah. I remember them talking about how difficult it was for them to get my blood tupe from the blood bank after I was shot."

"What? When did you get shot?"

She'd forgotten that she hadn't told any of her brothers about that. "Yeah, four years ago there was this crazy guy who convinced one of the upper management people that I was framing him for something I didn't intentionally do, so my best friend, Jayje, shot him. I'm all better now."

"Well, that's good, I suppose. But I'll need more of the details. Write me about it, okay? And don't leave anything out. This is why I should never have listened to Charles when he told us you were bad news. You could have died and we would never have known. Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"Not at the moment, no. I'll send you a link to my blog, you can get caught up there. But, do you think Mama would have cheated on my dad? Or worse, could she have been…"

"Until we know everything for sure, don't speculate. Everything will work out for the best."

"I hope you're right, Joey. I'll talk to you later."

"Later, Penny Lane. I love you." He disconnected the call and she turned back to her screens. Try though she might, she couldn't focus on the task at hand and began to do her own digging,

Hoping above hope that the hospital she'd been born in had digitized all their records, she quickly hacked into their records system, looking up her birth certificate. The PDF loaded slowly and she tapped her fingers impatiently. Just as the entire thing had loaded, a call came in and she touched her Bluetooth. "Office of Supreme Genius, how may I help you?"

"Hey, Kitten, did you find anything out in those preliminary searches?"

She relaxed back into her chair, smiling absently. "I haven't checked on them yet, my mind has been a little distracted."

"See, this is why you should have gone home last night. You don't get good sleep on a couch. Trust me, Erin and I found that out the hard way."

"Dave, do you have to keep putting those images in my mind?"

"Yes, if only to get you working again."

"Touché." She looked through the data compiled so far. "So, it looks like your unsub is one of those wily bastards who think they know everything about getting away with murder because they watch the ID channel. So far, I have bupkiss. Fret not, though. I'm certain that will change."

"Hopefully before we get a new set of bodies. Listen, would you go check up on Erin? This case unnerved her and I'm afraid that she'll be craving a drink. I won't let her fall back into that pattern, not when I can help it."

"I'll take care of your lover, don't worry. And if I get any information, I'll call you the minute it pops up."

"Thanks." They hung up and she leaned back in her chair, wondering why she had agreed to check in on Strauss. This was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

Penelope took a few minutes to collect herself and then she checked the PDF. It had finally finished downloading and she stared at the signatures of both her parents. It made no sense to her and she had to take a step back from the situation. Standing, she stretched and made her way out into the bullpen. Anderson glanced up at her, smiling, and she smiled back.

She walked down the stairs and turned down the hall outside the bullpen, wanting to get her duty done and over with. Going into Strauss's office, she stopped in front of the assistant's desk. "Yes?"

"I need to see Chief Strauss. Is she in?"

The woman looked down at the phone. "One moment, please." Pressing a button, she lifted the receiver to her ear. "Hi, Chief Strauss, Ms. Garcia is here to see you. Are you expecting her? Should I send her in, then? All right." She looked back up at Penelope. "You can head in now."

Penelope felt less than welcome as she went over to the other door, opening it. "Hello, Ma'am," she said quietly as she stepped inside.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Garcia?"

She went over to the desk and sat down gingerly, settling her hand on her stomach. "Rossi called a few minutes ago."

"And?" The woman sounded slightly bored, but Penelope noticed the tracks of tears on her cheeks.

"He just wanted me to check in on you."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, I'm not a child." She sighed and looked up at her. "I know you're only doing what he asked of you. I'm sorry I snapped." Penelope nodded. "Well, you're here now. Do you want to stay for lunch? It's Chinese day, so there's always more than enough."

"I'd like that, thank you." She didn't want to refuse the woman's kindness, that would be rude. "So, how is your relationship with Dave going?"

"We're muddling along. He wants to make things a little more official than I'm ready for." Penelope saw a faint blush appear on the woman's face and smiled softly.

"That's how Kevin was up until our breakup. But it sounds like you've tamed our wild Italian Stallion." The blush became more pronounced and Strauss cleared her throat. Penelope took this as her cue to back off. "This case is awful. I can't make any headway with any of the searches, and I know they're waiting on me. I don't know what to do. And it doesn't help that I'm distracted."

The assistant came in with a bag of delicious smelling food, setting it on the table before getting out two plates and two bottles of water. Erin stood and made her way over to the table, beckoning Penelope to join her. Once more, she sat across from the other woman. "Why are you distracted?"

"I reached out to my brothers, and I've only heard back from one." She took the container of honey chicken from her hands and spooned out a portion. "I didn't realize putting myself out there would be so nerve wracking." For some strange reason, she felt very much at ease with Erin, something she had never expected.

"It's hard to make reconciliations. At least you have one brother willing to talk to you. My ex-husband hasn't gotten to that point yet, all he does is yell. I hope that he will settle down soon, for the children's sake."

The woman was far more open than Penelope had ever seen her and she smiled gently at her. "You have three children, right?" Erin paused a beat and then nodded. "That sounds like a good number. Beginning, middle, and end." She speared a piece of chicken and brought it to her lips, only to feel her stomach roil. Setting the fork down, she opened the water and gulped at it.

"Are you feeling all right?" the other woman asked, reaching out to touch her arm gently.

"I'm sure it will pass. The baby doesn't realize Mommy needs food to feed him."

Erin smiled. "I was like that the first three months of my pregnancies. And then it seemed as if I couldn't get enough to eat." They continued the meal and when they had finished, Penelope helped her clean up. "We should probably get back to work. Dave's going to be fine, right?"

"Of course he will be. My turtle doves know how to take care of themselves." She went to the doorway and then turned back. "You should probably remind me to go home again tonight. I tend to have a lot of sleepovers in my office."

"I'll remember to do that, then." The quick smile set Penelope's heart at ease and she made her way back to her office feeling a little calmer. Sitting down, she continued to stare at the birth certificate, wondering what it could mean.

"Hey, Kitten. Erin told me you two had lunch together. Whatever you did really calmed her nerves, so thank you." She sighed in relief to see Rossi standing there. "What is it?"

"I'm so glad you're back. I need to pick your brain about something totally not work related. Do you have time?"

He glanced at his watch. "I have about an hour. Erin's stuck in a late budget meeting tonight and I'm waiting for her. What do you need?"

"So, I'm getting in touch with my brothers, well, stepbrothers, because of the pregnancy. I needed to find out my genetic profile to see if there would be any cause for worry." She knew she was babbling, and so she let him pull her up, leading her over to the sofa.

"And did you find something troubling in your history?" he asked kindly, clasping her hand tightly.

"Sort of. So, you remember the trouble they had finding my blood type specific blood when I was shot?" He nodded. "I have a super-rare blood type, it seems, and when I looked at my parents' records, there is no way I can be their child. I think my mom cheated on my dad. Or worse, she was…raped and kept me. It's the only two possible explanations." She broke down in tears and felt him encircle her in his arms.

"Crying so hard probably isn't good for the baby. I remember when Carolyn was pregnant with James that anytime she became upset he would kick up a storm. Always chose her bladder, too. And then she'd giggle and the tears would go away. But I don't think you're quite to that point in your pregnancy."

"No. I haven't felt him move yet. Kevin said that doesn't happen until twenty weeks." She caught her breath and curled up into him, needing the comforting warmth her offered.

"That confident you're having a boy?"

"No, but, well, we've all had boys so far, so I probably won't break the chain. There has to be something in the water." He chuckled and rubbed her shoulder as she sat up. "So, what do you think? Did my mom cheat or was she raped?"

"Why do you think it has to be only those two options? There is a third one that you're overlooking."

Her brow furrowed as she placed her hand over her stomach. "And that would be?"

"Adoption. You've told me before that your mom and stepfather had no children after they got married. Have you looked at the record thoroughly to see if your mom had trouble getting pregnant?" Penelope shook her head. "Well, doesn't that seem like a possibility?"

"Mama would have told me if that were the truth. Wouldn't she have?"

Dave shrugged. "I wouldn't know, Kitten."

"But there's the birth certificate!" she cried out suddenly. "If I were adopted, why would my mother and father's signatures be on the document? Doesn't that support my theory that Mama cheated, or worse?"

"Not necessarily, Penelope. I know that a lot of times, when the baby is adopted right after birth, the adoptive parents sign the birth certificate. Especially if it is a closed adoption. You probably wouldn't find anything in the public record. Remember that case we did a few years ago out in Arizona?" She nodded resignedly.

"So, now I have three options to keep in my head. Joey said he was going to dig further in his closet and see what he could find. I think I'm going to go crazy, Dave."

"Well, we can't have that." They both looked up to see Erin standing in the doorway. "The meeting just got finished, Dave. Why don't we run her home before we head out to supper?"

Dave nodded and helped Penelope to her feet. "Grab your purse and we'll head out."

"So, when do I get my personal autonomy back?" she asked tartly.

"When the baby moves out," Erin said with a laugh. "Good bye personal freedom, hello to your heart walking around outside your chest every day. It really sucks sometimes."

"Oh." She grabbed her purse and followed them out into the bullpen. She watched from behind as Dave slipped his arm possessively around Erin's waist, drawing her close. As they waited for the elevator, Erin rested her head on Dave's shoulder. "Is something wrong, Erin?"

"It was a long meeting. They had sherry." Dave sighed, rubbing her side. "I didn't slip."

"I'm proud of you, babe." He turned his head and kissed her head. The doors opened and they all stepped inside. "So, what's the status on our budget for next quarter?"

"Not good. Which makes no sense, given our success rate. The new woman, Sasha…"

"Alex."

"Yes, Alex. She looks like a Sasha, sorry. Anyway, we might have to let her go. I'm not about to lose any of the rest of you." She bit her lip as she shook her head and Penelope smiled a little as she recognized that gesture. It was one she often did herself, after all. "I'll let you do the honors if it comes to that."

"Of course, you'll make me the bad guy."

Erin laughed lowly. "I'll make sure to make it worth your while." Once more, Penelope was left with pictures in her head that she did not want and she could only grimace as she thought about the ride ahead.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'll be by about seven to pick you up, Kitten!" Rossi called out as she got out of the car. She nodded and waved to him before walking up to the door of her apartment and unlocking the door.

Penelope trudged up the stairs to her apartment and went in the door. She heard her radio on, playing classical music, and smelled food cooking. "Kevin?" she asked, but didn't get a reply. Moving into the kitchen, she set her purse in the counter and found the note on the table.

_Hey Plum Sauce, I have a big case I'm researching for cyber crimes. I'll be working through the night, so I used my break to bring you food. Hopefully we'll see each other tomorrow. I love you! Kev_ She sighed happily at the sweet note and opened her oven to pull out her favorite Pad Thai.

Turning the oven off, she sat at the table and wolfed down her food, finding herself ravenous. When she'd finished, she washed the dishes and made herself comfortable on the couch. There was a Dr. Who marathon on BBC America and she turned the television on to that channel, even though she'd seen all those episodes before.

It felt good to veg out for a little while, to let her rapidly racing brain focus on something fun and light. Not that the Weeping Angels could ever be considered fun. But at least the fear they induced was fake, was something she could deal with. Her favorite Dr. Who special, _The Waters of Mars_ had just started when her phone rang. Knowing that she couldn't pause it, she hit the mute button and answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Penny Lane. How are you feeling tonight?"

"Well, I'd be much better if you hadn't sent my brain down a rabbit hole. It's been the only thing I could think of all day. And I've found out the baby doesn't like when I'm upset."

"Sorry about that. Listen, I found something that might help to narrow down your searches."

"What is it, Joey?" She was instantly on tenterhooks and she dug her free hand into her skirt.

"Well, Sarah was helping me look through everything and she found this really old photograph of your mom and dad. They're with a really young girl who is holding a baby, and they are obviously in a hospital room. On the back of the photo is your birthdate. What is going on, Sis?"

"It's beginning to look like I'm adopted, I guess. That was the third option Dave gave me today, the one I didn't want to believe was true. I mean, my real parents didn't want me? Is everything I know a lie?"

She heard her brother sigh. "Oh, Penny Lane, no. If this girl in the picture is really your birth mother, she looks young. Like fourteen, fifteen, tops. She probably thought she was doing the best thing for you at the time. And your mom is your mom, no matter if she gave birth to you or not."

"Thanks, Joey. I needed to hear that. Do you think you could scan that photo in and email it to me?"

"I'm doing you one better, Sis. It is in the mail and heading your way as we speak."

"You know how bad the postal system is at losing things!"

"Quit whining, Penny Lane. I sent it through a next day courier system. It will be at your office by 9:30 the day after tomorrow. Trust me, I want you to know the truth of your past. Call me as soon as you get the picture, okay?"

"Of course."

"Oh, and the girl is blonde, like you. That was the only resemblance I could see. Have a good evening. I love you."

"I love you, too." She hung up and plugged her phone back in the charger, before turning the sound back on the television. She had missed the first half hour of the special, but knew what she had missed, and so settled back into the couch. She loved the character of Adelaide Brooks and once more was sobbing by the end, the nobility of her decision touching her still.

Turning off the tv, she went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. After drying off, she stood sideways and looked at herself in the mirror. She had the barest beginning of a bump and her breasts had swelled somewhat. She wondered what the coming weeks would bring to her body. Smiling, she caressed her belly and bit her lip as she teared up. "Mama is going to find out all that she can for you, baby. It's important to know your roots."

Putting the towel in her hamper, she went out to her bedroom and pulled out a comfortable jersey nightgown, tugging it over her head before crawling in the bed. Laying on her back, she stared at the ceiling, sleep seeming a million miles away. If this girl really was her mother, at least they shared a hair color. But what else would their common ground be? Would she even want to talk to her?

Suddenly, she sat straight up in bed, her heart clenching. "What if she's an unsub I've helped to put away?" she murmured lowly. Getting out of bed, she padded over to where her cellphone was and picked it up, dialing Rossi.

"What is it, Kitten?" he asked through his pants, and she knew she had caught him in the middle of sex.

"Sorry to bother you so late, Dave. I just got off the phone with Joey, my brother. His wife, Sarah, found a picture today that confirms, maybe, option three. He sent it to me, but I can't help but think that, if I am adopted, what if she was an unsub? What if I helped to hunt her down? That would mean I have evil blood running through my veins and could be passing that on to the baby. Oh god, what if that explains why I'm so vicious in dealing with the people we hunt down. That's not me, Dave…"

"No, it's not, Kitten. And you don't know anything for sure yet, so quit speculating on things you don't know."

"But Dave…"

"No buts, Penelope. I know it's your nature to run down every possibility, but you'll drive yourself crazy by doing so. Are you in bed?"

"No, Sir."

"I'm not Sir to you, Kitten. Get in bed and I'll sing you a lullaby. And if you tell anyone else on the team I did this for you, I will disavow any and all knowledge. That goes for you, too, Erin." She heard the other woman's low laugh and giggled in response.

"I swear to never say a word, Dave." She padded back to bed and crawled in, pulling the sheet up to her chest. "Fine, I'm in bed. What are you going to sing to me?"

"The song I sang to James before they took him from me." She felt her throat clog with tears and put him on speaker, setting it on the nightstand next to her head. He must have done the same thing, because she could now hear Erin's sighs. "_Ninna nanna,ninna oh. Questo bimbo a chi la dò? So lo dò alla Befana, Se lo tiene una settimana. So dò all'uomo nero, Se lo tiene un anno intero. Ninna nanna, ninna oh. Questo bimbo me lo terrò_."

By the end of the song, she was asleep, barely registering Erin's strangled sob and Dave's heartbroken sigh. Her dreams were filled with strange images, and she was quite restless as she chased after the apparition of her mother. The alarm finally woke her at six, and Penelope sat up with a groan, still feeling exhausted, and yet grateful she'd taken a shower the previous evening so all she had to do was dress and eat.

She was just finishing up her makeup when her cell rang. Rushing out to her dresser, she answered. "Yes?"

"Good morning, Penelope. Dave said that we're about five minutes from your apartment. Will you be ready in that time?"

Even Strauss sounded tired and a vague recollection of her sorrow last night came through to the forefront of her mind. "I just need to finish putting on my mascara and then I'll be on the stoop. See you soon, Ma'am."

"When we're alone, feel free to call me Erin. Dave says I need to start trusting people more." Before Penelope could reply, the line had gone dead and she chuckled a little. Going back into the bathroom, she finished applying the glittery green mascara and then put her lipstick tube in her purse.

Sticking her phone inside as well, she picked up her keys and made her way out into the hall. Making sure her door was locked, she then added the key ring to her purse before going downstairs and out the door. Her feet had just hit the pavement by the fountain when Rossi's Cadillac pulled up.

Smiling, she waved at the couple as she made her way to the car. Sliding in the back, she fastened her belt as he took off. "You aren't usually this early, Rossi. Usually I'm waiting on you."

"Yeah, the military never really taught me punctuality. Good thing my lover adores being early for everything. Maybe some of her good habits will rub off on me."

"That would be a minor miracle, David." The droll way Erin said that sent Penelope into a fit of giggles and she met her boss's eye in the side mirror, watching Erin smile widely. "So, did you sleep well after he sang t you?"

"Kind of. Is it normal to have weird dreams while you're pregnant?"

Erin nodded. "I had some very odd dreams throughout all my pregnancies. During my first, I asked my mom the same question. And got the same answer."

"Well, that's good to know. At least I'm normal in one aspect." A soft giggle escaped from Erin and Penelope raised an eyebrow. "You find that funny?"

"A little. I think you're more normal than you realize." Penelope sighed happily and scooted back in the seat, watching the scenery pass by, thinking about how much she could get used to this kind of treatment.


	6. Chapter 6

The elevators opened up on the sixth floor and they all stepped out. Penelope watched Dave and Erin head towards her office. They held hands, she noticed, and something inside her melted at the tender gesture.

Penelope ambled up to her office, a dreamy smile on her lips. "Good morning, Plum Sauce."

"Kevin! Haven't you gone home yet?" She stepped into his open arms and let him hug her tightly.

After kissing her cheek softly, he moved back to look at her, exhaustion showing on his face. "No. I did manage to crack the case for cyber crimes, though."

"Head to my apartment then. It's closer than yours. I'll see you tonight?"

"Of course. And tomorrow night. I got that off, too, to recuperate. I'll make us something spectacular for supper."

"I'll hold you to that," she replied as she leaned in to kiss him gently. "I didn't throw up this morning. Maybe the baby has decided to be nice to me from here on out."

"I hope so, Penny." He yawned and rubbed his hand against his eyes. "Did you hear anything from your brothers?"

"From Joey, yes. But that'll have to wait until tonight. Go, shoo, before I have Anderson run you home." He nodded and kissed her cheek once more before stumbling over to the elevator. She watched him leave before going over to her computers and booting them up. It seemed that Persephone was running a little slow that morning and she ran a diagnostic on her systems to check everything out.

As it ran, she brought up her birth certificate once more, staring at her parent's signatures. "One more day until I have some answers," she murmured. The diagnostic dinged and she noticed an issue she had to take care of to keep her babies running at optimal speed.

That process took her all the way up to ten o'clock and she was surprised when Hotch knocked on her door. "It's time for the round table, Garcia. We're not going out on this case, giving the police a profile should be all that's needed to wrap this one up."

"Give me one second, Hotch." She minimized the window containing her birth certificate and stood up. "Who are we going to assist today, Sir?"

"Alabama. But we need the tablets, Garcia."

"Oh, right." She turned around and gathered them up, going back to his side. "Sorry. I take it the case isn't too brutal today?"

He looked at her sternly and she instinctively covered her stomach with her hand. "Didn't you do the preliminary searches I asked you to?"

"No. I'm sorry. I just completed a diagnostic on Persephone and then had to fix a few bugs. That took all my time this morning." They joined the others in the conference room and she slipped into the chair between Rossi and Morgan.

"We're helping out the Little Rock police on a serial hate crime offender. They're at a loss as to who could be committing these crimes." Hotch clicked the remote and brought up a montage of pictures. "These slurs were their first indication that something was going on in their city."

Penelope couldn't believe the filth that was scrawled on the walls. "Where were the epithets written?" Rossi asked, sounding as disgusted as she felt.

"Outside the gay bar. It gets worse." He clicked the button and the next slide came up. It showed cars in the parking lot of the bar that were defaced with similar epithets. Penelope became overwhelmed by the cruelty she saw in the pictures, and so she began to zone out, not wanting to see the hate any longer. "Garcia?"

Her head shot up and she stared wildly at Hotch. "Yes, Sir?"

"None of us know the meaning of this term. Will you please look it up?" She looked at where he was pointing and quickly called up Google Search on Safari. She threw up the Urban Dictionary website on the screen and typed in the term, bringing it up for all of them to see. Again, she zoned out when she should have been taking notes.

By the time she looked up again, the others had disappeared, leaving her and Hotch alone. "Hey?"

"What is on your mind today, Garcia? It's not like you to be so spacey. Is it because you're missing Emily today more so than normal? I know it's been a month, but sometimes our grief takes some time to manifest."  
"Has it been a month already?" She marveled at how time had flown by while she hadn't been looking. "I haven't talked to her in a month. How could I have let so much time pass by?"

"We're busy, and out of sight usually means out of mind. It happens to the best of us." He stood and came over to her side, sitting on the table in front of her. "So, if it's not her, what has got you so distracted today?"

She looked up at him and shrugged. "It's been a weird, rough, week. I'm sure you don't want to hear about it."

"Try me." One of his rare, gentle, smiles crossed his face and she nodded, placing her hand on her stomach.

"Well, you know about the baby, and that's occupying a larger part of my brain than I ever thought it would."

"Congratulations, again. Do you know how far along you are?"

"The doctor figured about eight weeks. We go to see an OB next week. Which brings me to why I'm also so distracted. Now our OB wants our complete family histories, which for me is slightly problematic."

"The fallout with your stepbrothers?"

She nodded. "And that bridge is being mended somewhat. Joey got in contact with me, and sent me some new information on my family. It turns out I may have been adopted as a baby. Joey found a picture of the day I was born, and it has my parents in it, along with a teenage girl holding a baby."

"Well, you don't know anything for sure, yet, do you?" He sounded like he was trying to comfort her and she shrugged. "You do?"

"Kind of. I have a super rare blood type that neither of my parents have. That's how Dave convinced me that adoption was a possible option to explain certain things in my medical history."

"And I see you're still fretting over things you don't know for certain." Penelope looked up at Rossi and shrugged once more. "The worry isn't good for the baby."

"I know. I think you're going to have to remind me of that a lot, though."

"Erin and I will be glad to do that, Kitten. Speaking of my girlfriend, do you want to come out to lunch with us?"

Penelope grinned. "I would love to, but I should probably have a working lunch today. I wasn't exactly paying the closest of attention during the briefing."

"Well, we'll miss you." He came up to her side and kissed her temple tenderly. "You're good for her, kiddo."

"I try." He left them alone again and she looked up at Hotch. "Is there anything I can do to make up for being so distracted this morning?"

"Well, there is that backlog of data than needs to be entered in their proper databases…"

"Okay," she said quickly, looking down at the table. His low laugh caused her to look up at him. "What?"

"I was kidding, Garcia. Go, have lunch with Dave and Erin and when you get back, I'll have Reid help you with the data backlog."

She grinned in relief and bounced out of her chair, hugging Hotch tightly. "Thank you, Sir!" He nodded and she jogged from the room, locking eye with Erin. "I got permission to come with you! Where are we going?"

"Dave hasn't told me yet. Has your day gone well so far?"

She shook her head. "I spaced out a lot during the briefing. I didn't realize how this thing about my parentage would bother me so. Your boyfriend says I'm overanalyzing things and that I just need to relax and go with the flow. But that's not who I am."

"Let me guess, you internalize things a lot, ruminating over them until you've worked yourself up into a tizzy."

"How did you know that?" she asked incredulously as Dave came out and joined them, slipping an arm around both their waists.

"I do the exact same thing. You just seem better at talking to your friends." A sad smile flitted across her face. "If I had been better at that, things might have turned out so differently."

Penelope reached over and grabbed hold of Erin's hand, squeezing twice before letting go. "Our choices make us who we are. I don't think I would change anything in my life, you know?"

"She's right, Erin. We're at the perfect place in our lives to be with each other." They stepped into the elevator, and after the doors closed, he leaned over and kissed her softly. "Now, do you think Greek food would sit well with the baby, Kitten?"

"Actually, that sounds perfectly yummy." She smiled a little as she rested her hand on stomach. Sighing, she pulled away from Rossi to watch him and Erin interact. She hadn't noticed before how adorable they were together, and she hoped that Kevin and she would one day be like that.

"What's on your mind, Penelope?" Erin asked as they stepped out into the parking garage.

"Just thinking about the future. And how I want it to be a happy one, like yours." Erin smiled sweetly and reached out to clasp her hand as they walked over to Dave's car. To Penelope's surprise, the woman joined her in the back seat. "How come..?"

"I spend enough time with Dave, I need to spend time with you and the others." As Rossi drove, she and Erin talked about how her pregnancy was going and what she could expect in the coming months. Penelope found herself welcoming Erin's advice, which was so odd, given how rough a start they'd had. But somehow, she felt comfortable in her presence and she nestled back in the seat, focusing on the sound of her voice.


End file.
